The Charge

And now! At Last! Yet another film completely different from some of the
other films which aren't quite the same as this one is.

Opening Statement

The irreverent Monty Python troupe takes on medieval times and the legend of
King Arthur in typically zany fashion, now presented in the Ultimate Definitive
Final Special Edition DVD! Look at all the unbelievably Special
Features!!!! (It says so on the box!)

Facts of the Case

King Arthur (Graham Chapman) is attempting to recruit followers for his
Roundtable with mixed success. Suffering from rude castle guards, a political
rant from Dennis the Peasant (Michael Palin), and a very silly Black Night along
the way, King Arthur gathers around him the wise Sir Bedevere (Terry Jones), Sir
Galahad the Pure (Michael Palin), Sir Launcelot the Brave (John Cleese), and Sir
Robin (not quite so brave as Sir Launcelot) (Eric Idle). Originally headed to
Camelot, a silly song and dance routine convinces Arthur and his group
otherwise.

Having assembled the Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur begins his
quest in earnest. Rudely turned back by a garrison of French soldiers (at a
castle in the middle of England!), Arthur valiantly tries to storm the castle.
An utterly futile exercise, of course. Dissatisfied with their collective quest,
Sir Arthur and his knights decide that they should split up and pursue
individual quests.

While Sir Robin (who personally wet himself at the Battle of Badon Hill)
finds a most intimidating three-headed foe, Sir Galahad must protect his virtue
from a pack of chaste women, and then King Arthur and Sir Bedevere call upon
their landscaping skills to solve a perplexing difficulty. Sir Launcelot,
terribly brave but quite thickheaded, misunderstands his quest and is forced to
beat an embarrassing, bloody retreat.

Our heroes reunite to find a legendary enchanter, Tim (John Cleese), who is
said to know of the grail. He does, but to attain their goal, the knights must
defeat a cute white rabbit, reach the Bridge of Death, remember what their
favorite color is, and remember to call their solicitor when they are arrested
by the local constabulary.

The Evidence

An eclectic group of highly educated Englishmen (and one insane American),
the Monty Python comedy troupe made a name for themselves with their original
BBC television series. (Check out my reviews of the TV shows on the site for
more detail on those enduring classics of comedy.) Upon the untimely demise of
the show following its fourth season, the unconventional comedians could not
stand to get a real job, and so embarked upon an equally unconventional
theatrical endeavor. As Terry Gilliam puts it, he and Terry Jones had a burning
directorial ambition and announced one day that they should do a movie and that
anyone named Terry would direct it.

If handing a film over to a duo of novice directors is not enough, then the
financial backing of Monty Python And The Holy Grail is positively
unique. At the time, confiscatory tax rates (80% and higher!) in the United
Kingdom were driving wealthy creative types to find ways to lose funds in
investments so as to offset the greedy bite of Inland Revenue. So it came to
pass that the modestly budgeted Monty Python and the Holy Grail was
financed by such groups as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, record companies, and
London's West End theatre types to the tune of roughly £250,000. Until I
waded through this disc, I never realized just how much of a
shoestring-budgeted, guerilla filmed affair Monty Python and the Holy
Grail was at the time. The opening credits were stark, Ingmar
Bergman-mocking because they had no money left in the budget, Scottish
governmental authorities banned the production from using state-run castles and
lands (leaving them with a scant week to find Doune Castle, which thanks to
lenses and angles stood in for many locations), the production manager was
forced to purloin a decomposing sheep carcass and the two Terrys were desperate
enough to employ the services of a fan who arrived out of a taxicab on the set
one day and begged to do any job they had.

Like it or love it, there are bound to be very few people who don't have a
strong opinion on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. If you have seen other
examples of Monty Python's brand of humor, then you already know whether you are
going to like this film. If you have never been exposed to Python humor, then
you have been living a very deprived life! No cow, however sacred, is safe from
the biting satire and rapier wit of Monty Python, which in addition to being
thoroughly British can be obscure, witty, bizarre, disgusting, over the top, or
deliciously ironic, and sometimes veering wildly from one to the other all
within a single sketch or scene, interspersed with Terry Gilliam's hilariously
low-tech animations. Monty Python is a collective comic genius whose alumni are
still giving us the occasional comic gem (such as A Fish Called Wanda).

By the time Monty Python and the Holy Grail came into being, the
members of the troupe were so comfortable working with each other that the
acting here has been polished to a high blinding gloss. Each of them has their
individual shtick down pat, knowing the proper use of timing, voice control,
physical comedy, and the full arsenal of the comedic actor. I cannot recommend
their performances highly enough, and in the spirit of the DVD format, let me
simply say that this is reference quality acting.

The story, well, you expect a tightly written, highly coherent feature movie
length script from a comedy team that achieved the pinnacle of comedic genius in
a gag-a-second sketch comedy show? That's not really the point, of course, as
this is one of the few Python movies to actually have a consistent story to it,
but it still is an excuse for loosely connecting some of the best Python bits
ever to make it to film. From a political riff on governmental theory by Dennis
the peasant, armored men doing a song and dance routine about Camelot, rudely
taunting French soldiers, Sir Launcelot's heroic deeds going bloodily astray, to
the most vicious rabbit you could imagine, this is priceless stuff.

The new anamorphic widescreen transfer is a solid, decent effort, compared
with the poor quality of the initial DVD transfer. Thanks to the age and limited
budget of the original film, there are still a few moments where blurriness or
graininess makes those pieces of film negatively stand out. However, this
transfer has been cleaned up, is not quite as soft or edge-enhanced, and has a
dash more zip and zest to the colors. This version of Monty Python and the
Holy Grail has about 24 seconds of additional filmed material, amounting to
brief self-referential comedy and various people yelling "get on with
it!" It is quite funny. Trust me.

The remixed 5.1 audio is an improvement over the original mono track. While
neither the rear surrounds nor subwoofer are given much to do, the mix does
provide welcome breadth and depth to the audio, lifting up the music and
dialogue and throwing in some panning effects. The original mono track certainly
shows its age. Dialogue is clearly understood, but the limitations become
evident fairly quickly. High frequencies are decidedly attenuated, and the bass
is extremely limited. On a different note, I was impressed by the true 5.1 audio
of the animated menus. The rear surrounds are used to good effect, and the sound
panning from channel to channel is quite a pleasant surprise.

The most dramatic improvement from the bare-bones release is the expected
special edition wealth of extra content. The directors' commentary is a quality
example of the genre, with only short pauses in Terry Gilliam's patter about the
problems and joys of the production and sometimes lengthy digressions about the
Python group's inception and development. Terry Jones pops in from time to time,
but clearly Gilliam is the more introspective and loquacious of the pair. The
cast commentary (with a quiet Eric Idle and the verbose pair of Michael Palin
and John Cleese) appears to be an extremely well edited compilation of
separately recorded tracks. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a fond
memory for them all, and still capable of amusing them even so many years after
the fact.

The humorous content is sometimes successful, sometimes not. The
Matrix-like "Follow the Killer Rabbit" feature is only mildly
amusing, inserting scene-related Terry Gilliam sketch work or fake bits of
"The Accountant's Version" at various points in the film. The
"Subtitles For People Who Don't Like the Film" (Subtitle #5) is funny,
for not only is it text taken from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part II, but it
actually fits (more or less) the action on scene. Scary stuff! The three
"Mindless Sing-Alongs" are actually two straightforward sing-alongs
(for the "Knights of the Roundtable" and "Sir Robin" musical
numbers) and one amusing gag based on masochistic monks and your DVD case. I
shan't spoil the joke.

A number of short film clips, featurettes and a documentary are located on
Disc Two. "How to Use Your Coconuts" is a deadly serious parody of
government informational videos, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail in
Japanese" demonstrates the unintentional hilarity of re-translating a
Japanese dub into English, and a faux serious "Unused Locations" bit
(starring the directors) is worth a laugh or two. My personal favorite is the
film short "Monty Python and the Holy Grail in Lego!" A
crown jewel of extra content, I was close to tears by its end. Even if you are
an odd creature who won't rent or buy this disc, at least get the short online!
The "On Location with the Pythons" is a priceless 18-minute featurette
of silliness and satire originally aired on the BBC December 19, 1974. Finally,
the brand-new 47 minute documentary "The Quest for the Holy Grail
Locations" follows Michael Palin and Terry Jones as they reminisce and
tour Doune Castle and other locations in Scotland used and re-used for the
film.

For true Pythonic trivia fanatics, the screenplay is available for on-screen
perusal (Subtitle #4). For the easily confused, a cast directory helps you to
identify all the various roles for the Pythons and their supporting cohorts.
Completing the second disc are a gallery of production photographs, Terry
Gilliam conceptual art and sketches, movie posters, silly promotional materials,
and the ubiquitous original theatrical trailer (UK version) and the very similar
2001 re-release trailer (US version).

The Rebuttal Witnesses

I encountered a nagging difficulty in looking through the many screens of
photos and sketches, as well as the "Killer Rabbit" feature. Though
there is no actual sound in those elements, the disc is sending some sort of
audio signal to the receiver, and it consistently was confusing the heck out of
my receiver. It kept switching from Dolby Digital 5.1 to analog Dolby Surround,
and back again, resulting in sharp cracks of sound from my speakers. A very
irritating problem! Muting took care of it easily enough once I recognized the
situation.

Closing Statement

If you have never seen a Monty Python movie, or are looking for some
hilarious offbeat comedy, then you simply MUST rent this disc. The disc is
reasonably priced ($30 list), so with the nice set of extra content and improved
technical presentation, this is a must-purchase for anyone who likes Pythonesque
humor.

The Verdict

Though spelt "Monty Python," the Court's verdict on the film is
pronounced "not guilty." Having been previously burnt at the stake for
its heretical treatment of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Columbia
TriStar is granted a posthumous pardon for this vastly improved special edition
re-release.

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